Will the State of Israel at last investigate the actions of MK Hanin Zoabi? The decision is up to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan.

But if they give a green light, police have recommended the government take a look into whether MK Hanin Zoabi has crossed the line into criminal incitement with her constant barbs against the State of Israel.

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The straw that may have broken the camel’s back, finally, was an interview Zoabi gave – and a follow-up – in the wake of the terrorist kidnapping of three yeshiva boys who were hitchhiking home from Gush Etzion on June 12. Zoabi declared on TLV1 Radio that the kidnappers – discovered by Israeli intelligence to irrefutably to have been members of the Hamas terrorist organization – were “not terrorists.”

Instead, Zoabi declared, “They are not terrorists. I do not agree with you. They see no other way to change their reality and have to restort to these measures until Israel sobers up and feels the suffering of the others.”

In fact, she later added that perhaps it was Israel’s Defense Forces who were the terrorists, and maybe the boys weren’t kidnapped at all. She then accused the Palestinian Authority security forces of “treason” for cooperating with Israel to search for the kidnapped boys.

Knesset members from one end of the political spectrum to the other condemned her remarks with many calling for her dismissal – but Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein pointed out that he has no recourse to do so under Israeli law.

Zoabi has often made remarks — and acted — in ways that are more in line with representing the interests of the Palestinian Authority than those of the State of Israel, in whose parliament she participates.

In 2010 she supported and even participated in an illegal flotilla intended to violate Israel’s legal boundaries and break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza. That blockade is a defense against terrorist imports of weapons and ammunition that are used in attacks on civilians and IDF soldiers.

The participation of an Israeli parliamentarian whose loyalty is questionable is deeply troubling because as a member of the government, she automatically has access to highly sensitive security information.

Several years ago, her predecessor in the Balad party, former MK Azmi Bishara, fled the country just prior to being charged with treason. Bishara was suspected of receiving large sums of money in exchange for handing over information on sensitive military sites and other security information to the enemy during the 2006 Second Lebanon War. He has since traveled from one enemy Arab nation to the next, broadcasting poisonous lectures against the State of Israel and recruiting terrorists for attacks against the country. For a long time he also managed to also draw a Knesset member’s pension for his time served as a legislator, since he succeeded in fleeing abroad before ever being charged with a crime.

Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.

4 COMMENTS

Hanin Zoabi is using her privileged position as an MK to fight for the Palestinian cause, not that there is anything wrong with that in a democratic society, but to blatantly "cross the line:" in her statements against the Jews and the Jewish state is terrorism with diplomatic protection by being an MK. Surely the Israeli constitution has a way around this? She has to be stopped albeit in a "democratic" manner?

I am totally against this lady and her comments however……FREEDOM means….freedom to express your opinion and freedom of the press and media is vital! Tyranny is when the freedom of speech is supressed and denied! Let her speak and you speak back with TRUTH! Truth always sets you free and Especially God's children! Speak the Truth and always out of a Heart of Godliness. Let God fight that battle Israel!